Every business owner, from the “Mom & Pop” restaurant to the Franchise Owner has to wear many “hats”. The most important “hat” to wear is that of the Chief Financial Officer. Even if you are just a sole proprietor, you have to keep your finances
Read More
Archives for Money Tips and Help
An Inspiring Story: Homeless to Hopeful, and Financially Stable
So many people are living paycheck-to-paycheck, it is easy to just make a generalization that it is just plain expensive to make ends meet and to live and support a family. If you are living paycheck-to-paycheck, you might as well just throw up your hands,
Read More
Women and Money– Don’t be Left in the Dark!
A large percentage of my clients are single women. And, many of the women have very little knowledge about their own finances. There are many reasons for their lack of knowledge. Sometimes, if they were married before, their husband “took care of” all the finances.
Read More
Here’s One Easy New Years’ Resolution for your Money
I could give you many lists of things to do with your money in the New Year. I could also rattle off lists of different ways to track your spending. Those are all great, wonderful ways to get a handle on your financial life. You
Read More
What to do to help Your Credit Score After Bankruptcy- Send Your Discharge Order to the 3 Major Credit Bureaus.
For so many years, you’ve been working to keep your credit score high. If you end up having to file for bankruptcy protection, there are ways to help increase your score, and to have the credit report accurately reflect the bankruptcy. Why would you want
Read More
House Sold Short in 2014? You may get a tax break!
In 2013, the U.S. Congress extended the tax break for people who sold their houses at short sales, or gave up their houses, and were forgiven the balance of the loan. But, so far, in 2014, they let that tax relief expire. See my blog
Read More
Life after Bankruptcy– Estate Planning
The best event of any bankruptcy case is when the Bankruptcy Court issues the Discharge Order. This means that the Bankruptcy case is done, and the debtor has finished it successfully. In a Chapter 7, that means that all of the unsecured debt is eliminated,
Read More
Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act in Illinois
A while back, I wrote about Debt Settlement, and whether it was a good way to avoid bankruptcy. Most people don’t want to file bankruptcy, and try many different things to avoid bankruptcy. Debt Settlement, in certain circumstances, can help. There are pitfalls. I mentioned
Read More
Your HAMP Mortgage Payments May Bounce Up Soon in Illinois and Across the US
Back in 2009, the US Government announced the HAMP Program, Home Affordable Modification Program. The first group of homeowners started getting modifications, and many of those loan modifications had an “interest only” time period, usually 5 years. Now, the 5 years is coming up, and
Read More
Supreme Court Ruling Puts Inherited IRAs at Risk in Bankruptcy
The general rule in bankruptcy is that people can protect their IRAs and retirement accounts. In June of 2014, the US Supreme Court ruled, in the Clark v. Rameker case, that some retirement accounts are not protected. The Court ruled that inherited IRAs are not
Read More
